Enterprise Network: Drawing a map for growth

Multimap has flourished with its online service. Now it must decide how it can expand into other countries. Report by Rebecca Hoar

SAILING is most people’s idea of a relaxing break. But for Sean Phelan, founder of the map website Multimap, it set his mind working overtime. It provided the kernel of an idea that has since developed into a £2.6m business.

His interest in sailing meant Phelan was among the first to learn about the commercial uses of the Global Positioning System (GPS) — satellite navigation. This, together with his engineering and consultancy background, persuaded him to set up an online business in the mid-1990s.

Phelan had just completed an MBA at France’s Theseus Institute on the Côte d’Azur. He returned to Britain in 1995 and joined KPMG as a telecoms and media convergence consultant. Excited by the new opportunities in GSM phones, GPS and the internet, he wanted to find a way to combine the three. “Pretty soon I got to the idea of maps on phones,” said Phelan. “The idea